Hey DJ! updated with voice commands for Windows Phone 8

A few weeks ago we demonstrated the updated version of Hey Dj!, a voice-controlled app for Windows Phone that handles your music.

The original version of the app won accolades from us for being creative and filling in a gap in the OS, namely voice control of your music library. The app worked by simply launching it, pressing a virtual button and telling it what you wanted to hear. You could say things like the artist, song title, album or even a playlist...

Version 2.0 of the app just hit the Store and features new voice command features for Windows Phone 8. Now, instead of launching the app and barking out your commands, you can simply hold down the Windows key and tell it what you want to hear [Tip: head into Settings --> Speech to enable it from the Lock screen].

The commands are simple: “Hey DJ!....play <insert artist here>” is all you need to say and off it goes to do your bidding. From our usage, we’ve had much better luck than the other WP8 voice app out there, UrbanSpoon, which never hears what we ask. Anyway, Hey Dj! is a solid music companion app. We're not sure why Microsoft did not include voice commands for music in Windows Phone 8 but at least one developer is picking up the slack (and doing an admirable job at it too).

Pick up Hey DJ!here in the Store for $1.49. If you’ve previously bought the app there is no re-purchase.

Hey DJ! updated with voice commands for Windows Phone 8

Not very precise...if I tell it "Hey DJ...Play Shadow" it will go and play DJ Shadow, presumably going for the closest thing in my list. I didn't even have to say "artist". Note: it only plays locally stored music, not your cloud-collection.

Upload the files unto your Skydrive and once you access the file from the SkyDrive on your L900 the files will automatically be saved in the office app on the phone. You can then access your PDF files offline anytime from the Office app.

Hi folks, Hey DJ! has a known issue when going from the Trial to the Full version: the app might still not recognize albums/songs (artists/playlists/genres are fine). Fix in progress but certification might take a few more days. As a workaround if you hit this bug just make a change in your media library (e.g.: add or remove a song) and re-start the app. For support ping me at @diegohca (twitter) or <support at punoz dot net>.

I had the full version installed, tried to update and it error'd during install to my phone. I uninstalled app and tried to redownload from the store but now it wants me to pay for the app. I checked my purchase histroy and heydj! is not their either? I got the paid version of the app for free a couple of months ago when it was advertised on this site.

Are you using the same liveid? You should not be charged again. I think you can safely click on BUY it will tell you that you already purchased the app and you can re-install it. If you have trouble ping me at supportATpunozDOTcom.

I see a bit of a conflict with this app if you are already in another app. For example, if you're navigating with Nokia Drive and use Tell Me to starting playing a song, It exits Nokia Drive and then launches the Hey DJ app.
If possible, I would like to have an option that allows you stay in your current app AND manipulate music playback with voice.

Ok, this works. If the app terminates right after playing the song you want the phone goes back to the previous application (nokia drive in your example). I'll implement this feature in the next update. Thanks for the feedback.

The frustrating thing though is you can't do this from your lockscreen with a pin enabled. I'm not going to have no pin, that's just not very smart, but beingable to voice control my music collection from my headphones and car headunit with the screen locked and pin on has to be my most missed feature coming to windows phone from iOS.

In fact, I couldn't care less about any other feature iOS has. All I want is voice control of music natively, so that it works under a pin locked screen.